Just moving passengers around the massive Carnival Destiny required some dedicated thought. In order to smooth out passenger flow between decks, Carnival Destiny was equipped with twenty-seven Schindler lifts, and eighteen of these were for guest use and spread across three main lift banks.

Another area that Carnival was eager to thrust into centre stage on Carnival Destiny was her sprawling, 15,000sq ft spa overlooking the bow. In an age when many ships still considered spa facilities something of an afterthought, the spa on Carnival Destiny would include a full salon, treatment rooms, a pair of whirlpools, and a fully-equipped gymnasium. Personal trainers were on hand to help guests with their daily fitness regimen, and a jogging track was conveniently located just outside on Deck 11, where runners could do laps in the shadow of Carnival’s signature funnel.

Moving the largest cruise ship in the world required some suitably major horsepower. She was powered by six Sulzer medium-speed diesel generator engine sets, four of which were 16-cylinder, each with an output of 11,520kW, and two each rated at 8640kW. In addition to her dual shaft-driven propellers, Carnival Destiny had six thruster units to help with manœuvring procedures. Three were mounted forward, with an additional three located aft. Each featured variable-pitch propellers driven by a single 1720kW motor.

Carnival Destiny was also fitted with twenty-two Schat-Harding MPC32 partially-enclosed lifeboats, each capable of holding up to 150 persons. These were mounted to special, under-deck davits that contained a telescopic arm rather than more traditional davits that ‘swing out’. Because of these space-saving telescopic davits, lifeboats could be tucked in snugly above Carnival Destiny’s segmented Promenade Deck and still comply with Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) convention regulations that mandated a common height of 49ft above the waterline for all lifeboats carried aboard passenger ships. Destiny wasn’t the first cruise ship to make use of these new davits, but it was the first to put them to use aboard a passenger ship of her size. Two smaller Schat-Harding lifeboats are rigged at the forwardmost end of the ship.

Based primarily in the Caribbean, Carnival Destiny won favourable reviews from press and passengers alike during her first years of service. With nearly every stateroom sporting ocean views or outright balconies, she was one of the most ‘open’ and inviting ships afloat. Everything about this new Carnival ship was designed to be cutting edge, from her technical spaces to her inviting public rooms and suites.

Like Fantasy before her, she would be the launch ship for Carnival’s most successful hull design ever, with a fleet of similarly-evolved sister ships entering service with Genoa-based Costa Cruises. It also marked the first time Carnival had appended the word, Carnival to the name of its ships – a decision that would stick.

Carnival Destiny also gained a bit of fame when she hosted the first ever ‘KISS Kruise’ in October 2011, with calls on Nassau and Holland America’s private island oasis, Half Moon Cay, over the course of the four-day sailing.

After a long and successful career, in early 2013 Carnival Destiny embarked on the next chapter in its successful service history, becoming the recipient of the largest refit ever performed on one of Carnival’s ‘fun ships’.

At a cost of US$155 million, this refit was so extensive that Carnival Destiny sailed across the Atlantic in February to the Fincantieri yard that built her in 1996 in order to have it performed. When she emerged forty-nine days later, the transformation was so great that she was given the new name Carnival Sunshine.

During her refit, an additional 128 staterooms were added. In order to do this, a brand-new deck – Deck 14 – was added above the existing Deck 12 near the ship’s radar mast structure. Decks 12 and 11 were also extended further aft, creating room for new Cloud 9 Spa balcony staterooms and even a handful of Spa 9 interior cabins. These would offer premium amenities and priority, private access to the Cloud 9 Spa, which now boasted a greater footprint and completely re-thought general arrangement.

Aft on Deck 9, the Sun and Sea Pool was completely removed, making way for the panoramic Cucina del Capitano, or the Captain’s Kitchen. During the day, this Italian eatery offers a casual pasta bar, changing into a romantic, fee-based restaurant by night.

Massive changes were in store for Promenade Deck 5. While Carnival Destiny’s general arrangement was revolutionary in its day, Carnival Sunshine would sport a much more flowing feel, particularly when it came to the Casino, which was completely ripped out and redone. Elsewhere on Deck 5, the Destiny’s Way Promenade was removed and redone, complete with a new coffee bar that serves premium cappuccinos, lattes, and pastries.

The new Alchemy Bar, found where the former Point After Dance Club and Cheers Wine Bar were previously located, offered guests the chance to get interactive with their drinks by taking part in the line’s cocktail ‘pharmacy’ concept, whereby bartenders would ‘prescribe’ a suitable beverage, or allow passengers to create their own.

Everything beyond the aft staircase on Deck 5 – including the Criterion Lounge, the Down Beat Jazz Club, and the Apollo Piano Bar – was re-purposed for additional balcony and interior staterooms on Carnival Sunshine.

Moving down a deck, more general arrangement modifications were in store for the former Atlantic Deck. Gone were the severe 90-degree corners and angular curves that so characterised the public rooms on early Carnival ships, replaced instead by sweeping corridors and curving hallways reminiscent of those found aboard Holland America Line’s Vista class ships such as the 2002-built Zuiderdam.

The biggest change here is the complete elimination of the upper level of the Galaxy Forward Dining Room (the lower level still exists on Deck 3). In its place are the new Piano Bar 88 on the starboard side; and the Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse on the port side. Understated, casual elegance is the theme here – representing another subtle shift away from the knock-you-over neon and glitz that so characterised Carnival ships of the early 1990s.

Why She Matters: Carnival Cruise Lines had a tough act to follow when it unveiled the first plans for a massive new cruise ship that was to succeed the line’s popular Fantasy class vessels. While executives undoubtedly knew that they had a hit on their hands, they could not have known their initial design for Carnival Destiny would become one of the most successful in the history of the industry.

A journey down the forward staircase to Deck 3 reveals that Carnival Destiny’s former Palladium showroom – which occupied space on decks 3, 4, and 5 – is now a two-storey affair. In its place on Deck 3 are eighteen new Oceanview staterooms looking out onto Carnival Sunshine’s Promenade Deck, and twenty-four new interior staterooms.

All of this came in addition to a staggering wealth of new amenities, such as the new 270sq ft LED screen mounted poolside and a new sports recreation complex that featured a version of the ropes course pioneered aboard Carnival’s latest vessels. While Carnival Sunshine is undoubtedly still as much as ever a ‘fun ship’, there are also more relaxed, subdued settings, such as the Library Bar for intimate cocktails and great books and the elegant Sunshine Bar overlooking the gloriously redone atrium.

Carnival Destiny began her life as the first cruise ship to break the 100,000 tons gross mark, only to reclaim her importance seventeen years later as Carnival Sunshine, one of the most dramatic refit success stories in the history of cruising.